I didn't run into any problems so far, but it is only a few days, so I can't say that much about stability at the moment.

To flash the code you first have to connect the ND6500 to a system which recognizes it. That can be a desktop (using a converter) or another notebook which recognizes the ND6500 in master mode.

Next step is to run 6500BOOT, which makes the drive reverse-ATA. Reboot the system and the drive should be recognized as slave. If you use another notebook it is possible the drive isn't recognized anymore (because it should be master). If that's the case, unplug the drive and plug it into your toshiba. Because the drive is slave now, the toshiba should recognize it. Now run 6500MAIN to flash the main code (v4.21).

That's it. If the batchfiles 6500BOOT/6500MAIN don't work (if you have tried to flash the v4.21 code before), you can run the files to flash the code manually. Just take a look at the batchfiles how to use them.

If after this procedure the ND6500 still isn't working/recognized by your Toshiba, the ND6500 is probably really not compatible with the Satellite 6100, or you need the fix-slave (boot) code for the ND6500. Until now nobody has found that code (or found a way to flash the ND6500 into fix-slave mode), allthough according to employees of NEC there is such a code.

Another options for people who are buying this drive to replace the current notebook DVD Drive.

If when you install this drive in your notebook, it is recognized as Slave on IDE Channel 1 you have the option of using the 6500Boot.zip flash files to reverse the ATA.

The other option involves soldering so if you are not comfortable using a soldering iron and the proper solder (No 100 Watts iron should be used) enlist a qualified person to do this for you, it takes less than 2 minutes. A 20 to 30 Watt iron with a very fine point and some fine rosin core solder are needed.

The major advantage of this hardware ack/fixup is that you can use all the 2.XX firmware for the NEC ND-6500A and flash it directly in you notebook. Reverse ATA firmware is very limited up to now.

Here are the steps,

1 - remove the 4 screws securing the cover on top of the drive and put them in a secured place (Those screws requires a Phillips #0 screwdiver and they are really easy to loose) and remove the top cover.

2 - Pop open the drawer by inserting a straightened paper clip in the hole beside the eject button (be gentle) and extend the drawer to the full open position without forcing it.

3 - You will see the back of the 50 pin connector that connect to your notebook when you insert the drive in it. If you look on top of the printed circuit board, just beside this connector, you will see some numbers printed on the circuit board on each side of the connector.

Position the DVD Drive with the drawer open towards you.

It will look like this

------------------- 50 | | 1 ------------------ 49

The little wires on the connectors facing the inside of the drive are the one we want , specifically the second and third one from the last on the right where #49 is printed. Those 2 contact are (Counting from the right) 47 & 45.

Contact 47 is the CSEL (Cable Select which usually will configure a drive to Slave if this line is grounded, or Master if left open)

Contact 45 is a ground.

We need to apply just enough solder to connect those 2 contacts together. Make sure that you leave the last contact on the right alone and inspect with a magnifying glass to insure that you did not put solder where it did not belong.

Once everything looks fine, re-install the top cover on the drive and secure it with the 4 screws you previously removed.

Re-install the Nec DVD in the notebook and confirm that the drive is now recognized as MASTER on IDE CHANNEL 1.

I just completed these steps above for my own Notebook Computer (Voodoo Envy M855) which is based on a Mitac 8355 chassis. My notebook came with a Panasonic (Mashushita UJ-811 DVD-R drive) that is not supported by either Mitac or Panasonic.

This Panasonic drive was configured as SLAVE by firmware and the Notebook bios was tricking it (Reversing IT) to MASTER.

I got my NEC ND-6500A with firmware 2.22 and just flash it with the most recent firmware available here (2.23) after backing up the original firmware.

Had this issue before. Similar solution as Frenchnew - but I did it on the interface card.

Please note that on the Sat Pro 6100 (and probably the 2100), the bay connection is on the secondary controller - and it wants to see a master. You can confirm this in device manager with the stock drive connected - select View>Device by Connection Drill down ACPI>Msft ACPI>ATA Controller, and you'll see the CD/DVD listed on the secondary. Since it's the only one listed on the secondary, it's got to be a master. You can also confirm with Sysoft Sandra or similar utility.

To make the drive behave like a master, we need to ground the CS pin - pin 47.

I have tried flashing it the way that the instructions say, and it does work, no problem, but it flashes it as a master only.

I am flashing the 6500a on my pc with a ide adapter on the secondary master channel.

When i run the 6500boot.bat it flashes correctly, and then when i re-boot, it wont detect it as a slave, but as a master, and i have to change the cable the slave port, otherwise it wont recognise it on the master port. Even though it is on the slave port, it will only be detected as a master device.

I have tried flashing using bt6100r1.exe manually, but it comes up with firmware didn't flash correctly when i tell it to flash as a slave.

My laptop needs to see the cd drive as a slave, because it connects to the primary channel along with the harddrive.

I also tried flashing back to the original firmware that came witht the drive, and it takes a very long time to boot, and it again will only be detected as a master.

Is it possible to use the 6500boot.bat file in a way that it can force the drive to be detected as a slave?

Hey there, I have been going through these post in hopes of finding a solution to my installation issues. First of all, I am using a Hyperdata P3 1Ghz laptop, a bit old now, but it was lightning back in 00, lol. Anyways, it is a workhorse laptop so I have not needed to upgrade it aside from adding more ram and a bigger hard drive. Now I am replacing my combo dvd/cdrw with the 6500a. First of all, after I had installed the drive, my bios did not recognize it. Windows XP Media Center 2005 did recognize the drive but it shows up on my second ide channel as a slave and running in PIO mode only. I believe the througput is about 16Mb/s which is pathetic when trying to play a movie, skipping and jittering throughout. I have applied the 2.23 firmware update which didn't change the way that windows sees the drive, but it did allow me to successfully burn a cd-r. I tried ripping a movie and took about 1.5 hours, wowser. My questions is that by using the reverse firmware, will the drive show up as a master on the second ide channel. I read that the drives ship as master and wonder if it was conflicting with my hard drive. I have not tested it without my hard drive in the laptop to see if the bios would recognize it or not. Now, the review that was liked in here did mention that css ripping was slow, so I kinda was halfway expecting it to be slow. Anyways, I really want this drive to work in dma mode so i can get better performance both in reading and writing. It was a toss up between this drive and a panasonic slot-loading dvd+-r/rw, both about $120US at NewEgg.com. So do I update my bios, which unicore.com charges about $25 for the phoenix ntebios upgrade or do i return it or just keep it until I save enough to get a new laptop?????

I finaly have it recognizing in my laptop's bios as a secondary master. I used the 6500bot.bat and then 6500main.bat files and my bios recognized the drive correctly. Now I will have to run some burning tests to see how the performance is. I will update when I get more details.

may somebody help me? I`ve a Gericom Laptop and I need my Nec Nd6500 in CS-/reverse ATA Configuration ! What Firmware do i need and how can i choose the right konfiguration??? And what will i have to do??? Thanks soul

may somebody help me? I`ve a Gericom Laptop and I need my Nec Nd6500 in CS-/reverse ATA Configuration ! What Firmware do i need and how can i choose the right konfiguration??? And what will i have to do??? Thanks soul

Which Type of Gericom do you have ? If you have a Webshox Per4mance (N34AS1) it looks bad. I have not found a way til now to get the 6500 working in DMA in that Notebook !

I have a Gericom 1st Supersonic M6T A380! I phoned with a "Computer-Expert" who told me my needed Cofiguration -> it should be CS- What i want to know is: Which FW do i need for 1. CS 2. CS- 3. Fix Slave and if somebody has still his own Master Dump??? I flashed with Winflash, so i don`t need 6500BOOT/main - is that correct???